The Southern African Wildlife College attends groundbreaking SADC TFCA Conference and Summit in Harare, where the German government commits an additional €24-million to advancing Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) in the SADC region, and signs a landmark capacity-building agreement with the College.
The Southern African Wildlife College (SAWC) in partnership with the African Leadership University-School of Wildlife Conservation (ALU-SOWC) and the African Wildlife Economy Institute – Stellenbosch University (AWEI), successfully hosted a side event at the conference, themed – Unlocking the Potential of Wildlife Economies for Livelihoods and Regional Prosperity. The side event was well attended, the presenters and panelists included SADC TFCA focal points and coordinators who shared the state of Wildlife-based Economies and other livelihoods initiatives in their respective transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs).
The aim of the side event was to create space for TFCA focal points to report on the activities and initiatives relating to Wildlife-based Economies and Livelihoods. This is ahead of the planned regional capacity building to implement the Wildlife-based Economy Framework, including a peer-to-peer learning visit to the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA) with other TFCAs in August 2025. This programme is part of the SADC initiative with support from the Joint Action NaturAfrica / Climate Resilience and Natural Resource Management (C-NRM) Programme – co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
The German Government’s financial commitment towards Transfrontier Conservation Areas
On 22 May 2025, celebrating World Biodiversity Day at the SADC TFCA International Conference and Summit, the German government committed an additional €24 million to advancing Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) in the SADC region.
As part of the technical cooperation with SADC, implemented through GIZ, an agreement was signed by Germany and the EU for the co-funded Joint Action NaturAfrica Climate Resilience and Natural Resource Management (C-NRM) Programme. To support all Member states with capacity building on the Wildlife-based Economy, €190,000 was committed to the SAWC.
Together with H.E. Mr. Elias Mpedi Magosi, SADC Executive Secretary, Mr Udo Voltz, Ambassador to the Republic of Zimbabwe – Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany), signed a financial commitment and grant agreement with the SAWC as the implementing partner.
This project forms part of the initial phase towards the implementation of the SADC Wildlife-Based Economy Strategy. The SAWC will, in collaboration with the African Leadership University-School of Wildlife Conservation and the African Wildlife Economy Institute – Stellenbosch University, implement this phase of the programme.
These new partnerships reflect a shared commitment to fostering resilient ecosystems, empowering regional institutions, and enabling meaningful cross-border cooperation.
